Hot CES racing at a wet Grattan Raceway

By Joe Brittin
GRATTAN, MI - The MG Tires Championship Enduro Series held their third event of the season at the scenic Grattan Raceway on a cool early June weekend. The rental garages were snapped up quickly in an attempt to stay warm and dry. As usual, rain was a factor at Grattan, washing out the entire practice day on Friday. Rain also delayed the events on Saturday, however all of the races were completed using a shortened format of 20-minute sprint races and 30-minute enduro races. The heavy rains made for challenging track conditions due to the hilly layout of Grattan. Several spots on the track had water running across them most of the day on Saturday and one no-passing zone was set up for part of the day. Except for an early-morning drizzle, the rain stayed away on Sunday and the full program was held on a dry track.

A couple of familiar faces were filling in for flag man and post tech this weekend. Long-time enduro competitor Marty Bandixen, who retired from kart racing at the end of last season, filled in as flagman for Earl Clement this weekend. Marty added a little Formula-1 flavor to the finishes by stepping out onto the track close to the karts to waive the checkered flag. Another long-time enduro competitor, Tim Lang, filled in for Scott Evans in post tech so Scott could attend his son's graduation ceremonies. Tim also keeps busy selling the MG spec tires to the Shifter Kart Pro Series competitors.

Although practice was rained out on Friday, Marc Miller was allowed to run some demo laps in his shifter kart for a local television station using rain tires. Marc even had an in-kart camera mounted. The resultant footage provided for a nice three-minute news story on local TV Channel 8.

The traditional Saturday evening Bar-B-Q, hosted by the staff at Grattan after the final event of the day was it's usual success with many going back for seconds and thirds. Some of the campers at the track also found time to do a little fishing at the catch and release pond. With the weather being fairly cool for June, the after dinner bench racing around the beer kegs did not last too long. One casualty for the evening was enduro competitor Ana Koehler breaking a leg after she slipped and fell off a slick loading ramp in the pits.

The SSC Racing Pro-Series S1 race once again had a strong field of shifter kart competitors. Marc Miller jumped out to the early lead only to be black flagged by series officials for jumping the start. Miller heeded the controversial call for a stop-and-go penalty, and was able to charge back to a fourth place finish. Nashville winner Tim Koutny was able to pull out to a slight advantage over Chris Wright and Clayton Prater at the finish. Erik Winberg rounded out the top five.

One of the most competitive enduro races of the weekend was the Sunday Yamaha SSX class. Greg Hayden, Jim Steinbach and Joe Brittin furiously swapped the lead position for most of the race, going two and three wide throughout the course, until Brittin got pinched off and spun entering turn three. That left Hayden and Steinbach to battle it out for the win with Hayden coming out on top. Brittin charged back to within five seconds to settle for third.

Drivers winning more than one class included John Larue, Brian Wester, Kelly Falls, Jessica Brannam, Chris Bennett, Wil Brunner, Glen Branstad, Collin Bamke, Josh Lane, Jerry Revely, and James Sircy. The Saturday shifter class had the most number of entries at 25. Jonathan Kettlewell picked up the S1 win and Chad Sinnett won the S2 class in that race. Next race for the series is at Putnam Park Road Course in Mt. Meridian, Indiana on July 6 - 8.

RESULTS:
Saturday (June 2, 2001):
Novice (Zaagman Decorating): Jessica Brannam, Nicholas Weiss, Clay Sinnett, Corey Marks

Yamaha Sportsman Lite (MAC Tools Motorsports): 1.) Bob Zirves, 2.) Lamont Critchett, 3.) Jerry Revely, 4.) Brian Zirves, 5.) Nick Ricketts

Tecumseh Star (Tecumseh Motorsports): 1.) Bart Bartusiewicz, 2.) Rick Simpson, 3.) Gerard Schrementi, 4.) Mike Gibbs

Yamaha Jr Sportsman (KG Racing): 1.) Josh Lane

Yamaha Sr Sportsman (Streeter Super Stands): 1.) David Hamel, 2.) Gerald Revely

B-Limited (Oilman's of Wilmington): 1.) Scott Grant, 2.) Doug Evans, 3.) Brian Weiss, DQ-Michael Cousins

Unlimted (ATC Commercial Collections): 1.) Bob Reynolds, 2.) Leo Pastore, 3.) Doug Van Sweden, 4.) Dale Clark, 5.) Jerry Leonard, 6.) Randy Spettle

Yamaha Heavy (Fox Valley Kart Shop): 1.) Jerry Culp, 2.) John LaRue, 3.) Ronald Laska, 4.) Jon Bruner, 5.) Ron Thompson, 6.) Dave Meigel , DQ-Steve Pateiner

Controlled Ltd. (Kart Expo International): 1.) John D Stockbridge

Yamaha SSX Enduro (Martin Custom Products): 1.) Jim Steinbach, 2.) Greg Hayden, 3.) Scott Berkowitz, 4.) DeAnne Dressler, 5.) Ana Koehler

4-Cycle Sr (Competition Karting): 1.) Chris Bennett, 2.) Brandon Hill, 3.) Anthony Danta, 4.) Tom Howerth, 5.) Dave Wester Jr., DQ-Tiffany Wester

4-Cycle Jr (Briggs & Stratton Motorsports): 1.) Collin Bamke

Kohler Box Stock (Kohler Engines): 1.) Wil Bruner, 2.) Andrew Bruner

F200-OHV (Kohler Engines): 1.) Glenn Branstad

100cc Sprint/HPV (G-Man Kartworks, Inc): 1.) James W Sircy

Yamaha Sprint (Funkhouser Racing Engines): 1.) Samantha Weakley, 2.) John Miksuis, 3.) Dan Schrementi, DQ-Wesley Hiser, DQ-David Hamel, DQ-David Bird, DQ-Nick Ricketts

Yamaha Sportsman Heavy (G.E.M. Products): 1.) Jerry Revely, 2.) Gerald Revely, 3.) Lamont Chritchett, 4.) Douglas G Koin, 5.) Michael Raisley, 6.) Douglas V Koin

Yamaha 80cc Sportsman (Kartech): 1.) Anthony Pisano, 2.) Mike Sinnett, 3.) Larry Andel

K1 Sr 80cc Shifter (Flatout Group Graphics): 1.) Tim Blaney, 2.) Rich Voss

Jr. Enduro (Pfiefer Industries): 1.) Brian Wester

Yamaha Sportsman Enduro (RLV Tuned Exhaust): 1.) Eric LaRue, 2.) Dave Meigel, 3.) Jim Steinbach, 4.) Kenneth Dressler, 5.) Britney Thompson, 6.) Joe Brittin, 7.) Bob Thompson, 8.) Jon Bruner, 9.) John LaRue

Controlled 99 (RA Adams Enterprises): 1.) Robert Van Acker,2.) William Huck Jr., 3.) Paul Evans

SK-125cc S-1 (GEM Promotions): 1.) Jonathan Kettlewell 2.) Marc Miller, 3.) Kevin Heatter, 4.) Erik Winberg, 5.) Todd Jurs, 6.) Lance Lane, 7.) Chris Wright, 8.) Joe Sinnett, 9.) Rich Salerno, 10.) Tim Koutny, 11.) Robert Bult, 12.) Dominic Moceri, 13.) Ross Kasner, 14.) Clayton Prater Jr., DQ-Chris Reed, DQ-Patrick Burke, DQ-Brian Kay, DQ-Derrick Rogerweiss

SK-125cc S-2 (WD-40 Company): 1.) Chad Sinnett, 2.) Troy Brown, 3.) Brian Janik, 4.) Steven Bernasek, DQ-Samantha Weakley

G-125 Over 35 (eKMI.com): 1.) Kelly Falls, 2.) Jeff Rupp

Charity Team Sportsman (kartshop.com): 1.) Jerry Revely

Charity Team Enduro (BK Racing): 1.) Bob Thompson

Sunday (June 3, 2001):
Novice (Zaagman Decorating): Jessica Brannam, Nicholas Weiss, Patrick McCarty, Clay Sinnett, Ethan Bamke, Melissa Marks

Jr Enduro (American Power Sports): 1.) Brian Wester

Yamaha Medium (Laukaitas Racing Engines): 1.) Steve Pateiner, DQ-Ron Laska

Yamaha Sporstman Enduro (GEM Promotions): 1.) John LaRue, 2.) Eric LaRue, 3.) Jon Bruner, 4.) Britney Thompson, 5.) Bob Thompson

Controlled 99 (Alpha Karts): 1.) Brian Weiss, 2.) Doug Evans, 3.) Mac Hubbard, 4.) Paul Evans, 5.) William Huck Jr., DQ-John Ritchie, DQ-John Stockbridge

SK-125 S-1 (Rocket Racing Engines): 1.) Derrick Roderweiss, 2.) Ross Kasner, 3.) Joe Sinnett, 4.) Robert Bult, 5.) Dominic Moceri

SK-125 S-2 (PMB Motorsports): 1.) Steven Bernasek, 2.) Brian Janik, 3.) Phil Catafano, 4.) Robert Sobota, 5.) Grant Kasten, 6.) Chad Sinnett

G-125 Over 35 (eKMI.com): 1.) Kelly Falls, 2.) Jeff Rupp

Yamaha Sportsman Lite Sprint (MAC Tools Motorsports): 1.) Brian Zirves, 2.) Bob Zirves, 3.) Jerry Revely, 4.) Lamont Critchett, DQ-Nick Ricketts

Tecumseh Star (Tecumseh Motorsports): 1.) Rick Simpson, 2.) Mike Gibbs, 3.) Gerard Schrementi, 4.) Bart Bartusiewicz

Yamaha Jr Sportsman (Fast Lane Kart Shop): 1.) Josh Lane, 2.) Jarrett Schwarz

Yamaha Sr Sportsman (New Concept Design): 1.) Gerald Revely, 2.) Scott Edwards, 3.) Jim Gahimer, 4.) Dan Nyenhuis, DQ-Tony Kamerling

B-Limited (ATC Commercial Collections): 1.) Michael Cousin, 2.) Scott Grant

Unlimited (United Home Inspections): 1.) Randy Spettle, 2.) Leo Pastore, 3.) Robert Bult, 4.) Dale Clark, DQ-Randall Johnson, DQ-Joe Barth, DQ-Patrick Burke

Yamaha Over 35 Enduro (Lava Soap): 1.) John LaRue, 2.) Ron Laska, 3.) Ron Thompson, 4.) Dave Meigel

Yamaha SSX Enduro (On Trac Sales): 1.) Greg Hayden, 2.) Jim Steinbach, 3.) Joe Brittin, 4.) Scott Berkowitz, 5.) Douglas Morrison

4-Cycle Sr (Briggs & Stratton Motorsports): 1.) Chris Bennett, 2.) Brandon Hill, 3.) Jesse Fox, 4.) Anthony Danta, 5.) Dave Wester Jr., 6.) Kris McCarty, 7.) Tiffany Wester

4-Cycle Jr (RA Adams Enterprises): 1.) Collin Bamke

Kohler Box Stock (Kohler Engines): 1.) Wil Bruner, 2.) Andrew Bruner

F200-OHV (Tecumseh Motorsports): 1.) Glenn Branstad

100cc Sprint/HPV (G.E.M. Products): 1.) James W Sircy

Yamaha Sprint (Nelson Mfg/Invader): 1.) Nick Ricketts 2.) Wesley Hiser, 3.) Samantha Weakley, 4.) Jim Gahimer, 5.) Dan Schrementi, 6.) David Bird, 7.) Jason Trower, DQ-Dave Hamernik, DQ-Mike Hmaernik

Yamaha Sportsman Heavy (kartshop.com): 1.) Lamont Critchett, 2.) Jerry Revely, 3.) Gerald Revely, 4.) Chris Neville, 5.) Scott Edwards, 6.) Dan Nyenhuis, DQ-Tory Kamerling

Yamaha 80cc Sportsman (Kartech): 1.) Mike Sinnett, 2.) Larry Andel, DQ-Anthony Pisano